Are Michelle Obama’s Obesity Efforts Helping Black Children?

As we evaluate the impact of President Obama‘s job creation efforts, researchers from the University of Michigan are monitoring the effect of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign against childhood obesity.

According to their findings, prevention and treatment are necessary, but more of an emphasis needs to be placed on treatment, especially among minorities.

“Effective treatment strategies, particularly targeted to minority children, are especially needed,” says Joyce M. Lee, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of pediatrics and communicable diseases at the U-M Medical School and lead author of the study. “There is a lot of discussion about obesity prevention for children. That’s certainly important, but it’s not the whole story. Because so many children are already obese, there need to be greater efforts focused on treatment if we’re going to have success,” she said in a news release.